On 22 September 2021 the UK government published its National AI Strategy, a ten-year plan to keep Britain among the leading AI nations. It was produced across several departments, including the Office for Artificial Intelligence, and built on the country’s research base anchored by institutions such as the Alan Turing Institute.
The strategy was organised around three pillars: investing in the long-term needs of the AI ecosystem, ensuring AI benefits all sectors and regions of the country, and governing AI effectively. It framed AI as a driver of resilience, productivity, growth, and innovation across both private and public sectors, and set up government machinery to coordinate policy.
Why a business reader should care: the UK strategy is a leading European example of a state trying to convert academic strength into economic advantage, and its emphasis on governance foreshadowed the UK’s later role in hosting the first global AI Safety Summit.